Following a letter sent by Anneliese Dodds, Member of European Parliament, the European Commission (EC) appears to be considering to open a new antitrust case against the owners of the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1), which, by some accounts, represents the second biggest sports business in the world. Dodds, representing a constituency from South England, the home of several Grand Prix teams and related technology companies, specifically raises two interrelated concerns: (i) a violation of a former settlement between F1 organizers and the EC’s competition division by re-mixing regulatory authority and commercial rights through the Fédération Internationale l’Automobile (FIA) and (ii) an unfair treatment of smaller teams by excluding them from regulatory decision procedures and by a grossly uneven distribution of revenues among teams. These two concerns, however, do not only point to a violation of the former settlement, they also reveal a major flaw in the 2001 agreement. Instead of restoring competition, the EU may just have leveraged market power away from the FIA and towards the commercial rights holder.
„Gastbeitrag
Competition in Motor Racing
A New Formula One Antitrust Case?“ weiterlesen